


Everything's Fine

by bluecinderella4



Series: Descendants Sitcomed [2]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:55:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24104788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluecinderella4/pseuds/bluecinderella4
Summary: Follow up to "This Isn't What it Looks Like". Following a mysterious explosion at Auradon Prep, the whole town is put under a lockdown. While Mal, Ben, Jane, Doug, and Fairy Godmother are at the school, everyone else (Evie, Carlos, Jay, Uma, Harry, and Gil) has gathered at Evie's where a whole other series of events are taking place.
Relationships: Ben/Mal (Disney: Descendants), Doug/Evie (Disney: Descendants), Gil/Jay (Disney: Descendants)
Series: Descendants Sitcomed [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1739191
Comments: 4
Kudos: 16





	1. You Should Know That

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BACKSTORY: I have actually been asked for a sequel to "This Isn't What It Looks Like", but never really had any idea how to go about it. Then I watched the season 7 finale of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and thought, "I love how they went about doing this cliché. It feels new, and fresh, and I wish I could do something like that". In this follow up, a crisis occurs and everyone's divided up to solve it. Not too long after, it's your basic sitcom clichés where it seems like everything's going wrong, but it's all fixed by the end. I've also added a few other plot elements to fill space and time to make it seem like your standard one-hour sitcom "special" episode. Like how the first half hour would be like the lead up to a big event and the second half hour would be the big event itself.
> 
> Naturally, it's not exactly like cop comedy "Brooklyn Nine-Nine", but it does borrow plot and moments while fitting to "Descendants" canon. I'm sure I've borrowed others—I watch too much TV—but I can't single any out for sure. So be careful of any potential spoilers.

All in all: it had started out just a normal day.

Evie and Doug were at their respective desks in her workshop—her working on a design, him going through the books—when Dizzy came in to announce, "Hey, so after school I'm gonna study with Celia tonight; probably be spending the night at her dorm."

"Finals week," both Evie and Doug noted in sync without looking up from what they were doing.

"Finals week," Dizzy confirmed. "I swear Mr. Deley is out to get us." Evie and Doug chuckled simultaneously at this. "I'll probably see you guys tomorrow."

"Bye Dizzy," Evie bade goodbye. "Hey," she turned her swivel chair toward Doug, "what do you think?"

Doug rolled his chair back, careful not to bump into her. "For Mal?"

"This is actually what Uma suggested for her dress."

"That would explain why the color is cerulean."

"You thought this dress was for Mal?"

"With the exception of color, Uma and Mal have a very similar taste in style." Evie made a noise of acknowledgement. "Are you still working on that dress for Mal that they wanted for the weekend, or is that done?"

"I'll get it done by tonight."

"You kinda have to."

"This weekend is Mal and Ben's first anniversary; the dress has to be special. This event is going to be broadcasted everywhere; everything has to look good. Plus it's going to be the last official dress I make before I take my little maternity leave, so it'll be the last dress I make before I become a mother." She blew out a breath as she placed one hand on her swollen stomach. "Two more weeks."

He held her hand closest to him and stroked it with his thumb. "Nervous?"

"Extremely."

He gave her a shy smile. "Excited?"

She in turn smiled widely at him. "Extremely."

"Me too," he kissed his wife as he stood. "I was gonna get some breakfast, you want something?"

"Bottled water, toast, and my thinking scrunchie."

"Thinking scrunchie," he tossed her a large ponytail on his desk.

She used said scrunchie to put her hair up. "Heigh ho, heigh ho," and off to work she went.

…

"Keep that pacing up and you'll dig a hole to the Underworld," a pink-jacket wearing Carlos observed Mal as he entered her palace.

"Ugh! I hate public events!" Mal bemoaned. "Why is it whenever I want to do something special just me and my husband, a million other people literally have to be involved? Okay: our wedding I understand. Royal weddings are a huge thing, even on the Isle."

"You gotta participate with traditions. Auradon celebrates huge weddings and only does a televised follow-up on the one year anniversary before moving on to every other decade."

"Yeah, but they're making me feel like I'm guilty for wanting to be alone with the king of Auradon," she leaned against a pillar. "It's ironic that Evie wants the big, huge wedding, but she ends up eloping. Meanwhile I want to elope; and I'm stuck with the big, huge wedding. Few months into her marriage, Evie gets knocked up. Yeah it's good, but who really cares. Few months into mine, everyone's asking me when I'm gonna have a baby like it's expected of me."

"Has Ben asked you to have kids?"

Mal sighed. "He wants kids, I know he does. He's been super patient and not putting pressure on me, but…sometimes I feel like it's not gonna happen. Well, I mean it's not likely gonna happen while I'm still on birth control, but-"

Carlos covered his virgin ears. "Sheesh, warn a guy before going into girl talk!" Mal rolled her eyes as the statement dawned on Carlos. "Are you deliberately trying not to have a baby?"

Mal shrugged. "I dunno. I mean Jay and me aren't like you and Evie: we didn't really give much thought into our future families. By the way: I sincerely doubt you're gonna marry a hot, blonde model and have five sons by the time you're thirty."

"Didn't you tell us over and over again that you didn't want to have kids or associate yourself with kids?"

"People can change!"

"Prove it."

"Prove it how? I'm subbing for the art teacher at Auradon Prep; isn't that enough?"

"It's temporary and they're nearly adults. It doesn't count."

"Says you."

"Do something around _little_ kids. Something to show you're maternal. Maybe stop taking your…" Carlos swallowed and quietly said the next part like he was ripping off a Band-Aid, "birthcontrol."

"Since when do you have any control over my body and what I choose to do with it? As much as the public likes to think so, my sex life is-"

"OKAY NEW TOPIC!" a nervous Carlos clapped his hands together and cleared his throat. "What brings me here?"

"I need you to do me a favor."

"Gee, that doesn't sound vague at all."

"I figured it was my best bet to ask you."

"Why not ask Evie?"

"Because it's something _for_ Evie…well, for Evie's baby."

"Aww."

"Yeah, yeah, sweet and all; don't read too much into it. Evie's like our sister and it didn't feel right just buying all that junk for her baby shower."

"Mal, you bought everything on her _suggestion_ list."

"And it feels meaningless! I want to buy something with meaning or supplies to make something special. Problem is: I don't want the press to get any ideas, so I want to be stealthy about it."

Carlos shrugged. "Okay, fair enough."

"Your opinion would be nice too. Evie is giving birth to our niece and I want my gift to-"

"Our _what_?!" Mal's jaw went slack when she realized what she had done. "Mal, no one is supposed to know what Evie is having! And now _I_ know! How do you expect me to keep this a secret for the next two weeks?!"

"Maybe the baby will come early and you won't have to." Carlos let out a disbelieved gasp. "You know I don't like to be surprised, I couldn't help it!"

"How did you even-"

"Queenly privileges: there are some times when having all this power really comes in handy. I know that stereotypes the whole 'villain abusing power' cliché, but I like to be prepared," Carlos mimicked the rim shot, but Mal didn't notice. "So, I need you to be both a spy and a distraction."

"And to what does this involve?"

"First off: me letting you use your car." Carlos was about to protest, but Mal cut him off with, "I call Queenly Privilege."

"Drat. Okay, then what?"

"I will drop you off at Evie's and you can lie and say you want to spend the day with her or something, I don't know. I just need you to keep her distracted for a few hours while I teach a couple of classes and go shopping."

"How does the spying part come in?"

"It's no secret I mentally blocked out that baby shower and I have no idea what I or anyone else got her. I need you to make sure that I don't get something she already has or something similar."

"You did drink so much of those strawberry drinks that day."

"Can you do this for me or not?"

"I want to: but can I be trusted to be alone with Evie after you reveal the sex of her baby that even she doesn't know?"

"Valid," Mal bit her lip in thought. "What if you bring Jane? She might also be able to help keep Evie distracted."

"Jane's got a bunch of planning stuff to do; she won't be done til way later."

"Then Jay! Jay's never doing anything."

"Aren't things still a little awkward between him and Doug after the… _incident_?"

"Just so long as they never speak of it again."

"It was pretty much your fault, you know." Mal scowled at him. "Well, they wouldn't have ended up in bed together if you hadn't have interfered." Mal grunted at him. "That's just one reason Jay'd turn me down."

"How do you know he'd turn you down?"

"Because he's hardly talking to anyone and he hasn't left his apartment in like two days."

"What?"

"He and Gil had another fight."

"So? You know how this works: they fight, they each flirt with other people, they get jealous, they make up, rinse and repeat. I know two days is the longest they've been-"

"Gil's been staying with Uma and Harry."

"Oh."

"I think it's really over, Mal."

"Then as Jay's closest friends, we need to help. We'll pick him up and take you to Evie's to talk about what Jay should do."

"Okay," Carlos relented, "but if you're gonna have Jay end up in bed with someone this time, make sure it's not me or Evie."

Mal chuckled. "Look at you: spoken like a true smart aleck."

"I learned from the best."

…

"Uh-uh," Uma wasn't having any of this, "not happenin',' she tore open the living room curtains and let in the light. The first mate passed out on the floor hissed at her. "Mornin' sleepin' beauties," she faked cheeriness before going into Captain Mode, "now get up."

Meanwhile, Gil shifted in the chair he had fallen asleep in. "Why does it feel like I slept on something hard?" He stood up and noticed the empty, glass bottle. "Oh, that makes sense."

"What a twist: this time we didn't bring someone else into the house." She kicked Harry "good morning".

"OW!" Harry rubbed his hook over the spot she kicked. "Must you be so violent?"

"Yes! Now clean this place up and I'll make the coffee."

"Coffee!" Harry struggled to his feet. "Sweet, sweet coffee."

"Is coffee really supposed to be sweet?" Gil questioned. He watched Harry stumble across the living room. "You okay there, Hare?"

"Think I had a wee bit more rum than usual. This gettin' over a broken heart business does call for a pint or so more."

"Think maybe I'd be like this if _you_ weren't hogging all the rum?"

"Didn't want you to overdo it, Mate." He slumped onto the sofa, moving over another rum bottle in the process. "You think you can go about what you're doing a little quietly?" Gil shook his head in judgment and went upstairs. With a moan, Harry took one of the pillows from the sofa and put it over his head.

This gesture made him oblivious to the daughter of the sea witch. Uma had made her way back into the living room, hollered, "GET UP", yanked the pillow off Harry's face, and proceeded to hit him repeatedly with it.

"Stop! Stop! You win!" Harry rose from the sofa. "I'll get to cleanin'."

"You better."

"Hey Uma," Gil came back downstairs carrying a phone, "when I went upstairs I heard your phone ringing."

"This early?" She looked at the missed call. "Ugh, her again." Uma called back the number.

" _Uma! Great! Just the person I wanted to talk to!"_

"What do you want Princess?"

" _So your dress for our reunion is coming along nicely,"_ Evie sounded way too perky. _"There are just a few little design choices and alterations that need your approval, but I think…"_

"You think?" Uma pulled her phone away. "Uh, you still there?"

" _Yeah, sorry, lost my train of thought; pregnancy brain. Anyway: I was hoping you could come over so that we could get it all done."_

"Done so that I won't ever have to come over there again done?"

" _Yes."_

Uma gave a defeated sigh. "Fine; I got nothing better to do anyway." Evie squealed on the other end. "Is that necessary?"

" _I'm just so excited to get this done for you!"_

"Exactly: done. Done and over with. And can we try to make this as quick and painless as possible?"

" _So long as the dress is made to your satisfaction."_

"If it was, I wouldn't be wearing a dress. I'll be there soon." She hung up her phone. "Alright you," she snapped her fingers at Harry, "come on, let's go."

Harry blinked at her. "Beg pardon?"

"If I have to suffer through this, I'm takin' you down with me. Plus I can't drive so-"

"And I can?" Harry, who could barely sustain his balance, hiccuped to prove his point.

"Well, I can't leave you unsupervised. Gil!" She called Gil. "Gil, I got a thing. You gotta take me and then babysit the drunken sailor here." Gil just shrugged. "I don't want to be there all day, so let's get this over with." They didn't exactly know what to do. "Ugh," she loudly clapped at Harry's ear before shouting, "SOMETIME TODAY!"

…

Evie's text notification went off. She tore away from her designs to read her message. "Hey Doug, did you invite Carlos and Jay over for something?"

"Not that I'm aware of," her husband answered back. "Why'd you ask?"

There was a knock at the workshop door. "No reason."

"I'll get it," Doug answered the door. "Carlos. Jay. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Carlos was trying to assure, "yeah we just wanted to stop by for a while. Maybe spend some time with Evie."

"Wow, guys, I wish you would have called or something; I'm actually kinda busy."

"Doug then."

Doug quirked a brow. "You want to willingly spend time with _me_?"

"Why not? A couple hours; just us dudes doing…dude stuff. Right, Jay?" Jay didn't say anything. "He's just tired. Come on, let's go watch TV or something."

"Um…sure."

While Carlos dragged Doug off to another room, Jay had lingered behind. "Everything okay?" Evie had asked him. "You seem quieter than usual."

"It's just been a rough couple of days," Jay kept his answer vague. "They just want to get me out of my apartment."

"They?"

"Carlos and Mal."

"Mal's not here?"

"She's teaching a couple art classes and running some errands."

"Right, so what exactly are you and Carlos doing _here_?"

"You're gonna found out eventually: Gil and I broke up and Carlos and Mal don't want me to be alone. Mal suggested we hang with you; see what you have to say about all this."

"Oh Jay, I'm really sorry."

"Maybe they thought this place would get my mind off him or somethin'. I dunno; where's your candy stash?"

"I don't have a candy stash." Jay shot her a disbelieving look, complete with an eyebrow raise and she gave a relenting sigh. "But I do have some emergency candy in my drawer. Help yourself."

"Thanks," Jay began to rummage through her drawer. "Want some?" Evie declined. "I'll just take a few," he scooped up candy in one hand, turned to leave, and then came back for a few more pieces. "You sure you don't…" he noticed Evie was looking away and biting her lip, "you okay?"

She looked up at him. "Huh? Oh, yeah!"

"Were you having one of them apostrophes? Should I get Doug?"

" _Contractions_ , and no. The baby's just in a really awkward position and kicks the crap out of me a lot. Trust me: this is normal. You go do whatever; I got to get back to work."

"Okay." He kept his eyes on her as he backed away.

"Jay, really, I'm fine."

"Just uh…just makin' sure."

"Thank you."

"And that if anything does happen, please make sure it happens when I'm not here." She faked a smile at him. "I'm gonna go now."

"Please do." Jay did. "Finally." No sooner had Evie went back to work, that there was another knock on the workshop door. She let out a groan before calling out, "One sec!" After more than a few secs, she managed to get up and go the door. "Uma, hi."

"Alright, let's get this over with," Uma brushed past her and sat at Doug's desk. "What do I have to do?"

"I just need your approval on-"

"Hello, hello," Evie couldn't help but grimace at Harry's greeting. "Has anyone ever told you that you're positively glowing?"

"Yes. Because I'm pregnant."

Harry waved his hook in a nonplussed way. "Semantics."

"Please get out of my sight before I vomit." He winked at her again. "Ugh."

"Harry," Uma began, "go find someone else with a pulse."

"If you like, you can join my _husband_ and some of our friends at the television."

"Alright," Harry headed out of the workshop, "if milady wishes." Evie did her best to suppress the bile rising in her throat.

"It's a new month," Uma casually stated. "Last month he was tryin' all this stuff on that Audrey chick, and next month it's probably gonna be that Chad guy. Blah, blah, blah, let's hurry this up."

"I parked the car and I didn't hit anything this time!" Gil proudly announced as he entered the workshop. "I knew I could do this driving thing."

"Gil?" Evie was surprised by his presence. "You're here too?"

"Technically I'm here _three_." He counted each of the people in the workshop.

"Right. Uma, can I speak with you over there?" Evie led Uma away.

"What's so important that I couldn't sit down?" Uma questioned.

"You brought Gil?"

"Yeah, so; I can't drive, Harry's wasted, but Gil has a permit."

"And I have Jay in my living room!"

"Oh snap."

"Why didn't you tell me you didn't have a way here? I would have had Doug pick you up or pay a transport fee?"

"Okay fine, they got me here because I can't drive. They're also here because this," she gestured around her, "is torture. If I have to be tortured, I want to drag others down with me."

"This is not torture. We've both lived on the Isle; we know real torture. _You're_ the one who usually inflicts it. At most: it's probably just an unpleasant situation. But if Jay and Gil cross paths, then it'll turn into an _uncomfortable_ situation. And with being in a constant state of uncomfortable carrying a human being inside of me-"

"Ew."

"-I'd rather just keep this _unpleasant_."

"Keep talkin' gross facts of life stuff and it'll definitely get uncomfortable."

"I just said I had a baby inside of me; how is that gross?"

"The whole… _situation_ is gross."

"Okay," Evie tilted her head toward her desk. "I'll get the designs; you get Gil to stay in here."

"Yo Gil," Uma called to her companion, "you're gonna stick around in here." Gil literally shrugged this off. "We'll holler if we need you."

"What am I supposed to do til then?" Gil questioned her.

"Doug keeps a few books on the shelf in case he gets bored," Evie informed him.

"That's good for Doug, but what am _I_ supposed to do?"

"Just read dork boy's books!" Uma ordered. Gil gave another shrug and went to the shelf. "Don't worry Princess, this should definitely keep him busy."

"It will?" Evie didn't buy it.

"Sure. He can't read."

"And you want to exploit his illiteracy?"

"You rather have him go watch TV with the other guys?"

"Enjoy your reading, Gil!"

…

King Ben knocked on the open door of Auradon Prep's art room. "Knock, knock."

The substitute art teacher looked up at him with a huge smile. "Ben," Mal went over to kiss her husband, "what are you doing here?"

"The lunch hour is approaching and I thought my wife would like to enjoy it with me."

"She would," another kiss. This one seemed to go on for a while until an annoyed "ahem" broke them apart. The source came from Celia Facilier. Meanwhile, Dizzy Tremaine was standing next to Celia trying to suppress giggles. "Hello, girls."

"I thought the school had a rule about making out in the hallways," Celia quipped.

"What do you want, Celia?"

"The art room. You said Dizzy and I could use it at lunch so we can study."

"Right, yeah, I did. Go ahead, just don't break anything." Dizzy and Celia hurried into the art room, shutting the door behind them.

"They must really want to study," Ben observed.

"That or they're up to something."

"Not all VKs have hidden agendas or ulterior motives. You of all people should know that."

"I do know that I'm hungry. Where are we going for lunch?"

"Her majesty's choice."

"Her majesty approves."

"Hey," Ben squeezed her hand, "Happy Anniversary Eve."

She playfully swatted him. "You're incorrigible."

"Yeah, but you love me."

"Only 'cause you're paying for lunch." He put his hand to his heart and feigned heartbreak. "Drama king."

…

"I'm starting to think you're deliberately making this longer," Uma grumbled as Evie gathered more color options.

"Believe me: it's going much faster with you here," Evie practically threw the fabric onto her desk and stopped to catch her breath.

"You okay, there Princess?"

"Even the simplest tasks take a lot out of me." Evie started going through the fabric. "Come and decide on a color."

Uma went over to the table. "These are all the same color."

"They are not. We have blue-green, teal, cerulean, aquamarine-"

"This one!" Uma practically ripped the fabric off the table. "Now can we please get this over with?"

"E!" Doug rushed into the room, "E, something's up at Auradon Prep."

"What's going on?" Evie asked him.

"It's just a breaking news thing on the TV. There was some kind of explosion and I can't get a hold of Dizzy."

"What about Mal? Mal's teaching there today."

"I don't know; I'll try her in a minute. Right now we have to make sure Dizzy's safe. Come on: we should get to the school."

"You get to the school; I'll stay in case she comes here."

"Uma, can you stay with Evie until I get back?"

Uma quirked her brow to him. "Excuse you?"

"Don't worry, Doug, I'll be fine," Evie assured. "Go; and find out about Mal too."

Doug didn't bother to object. "Okay, I'll head down there now. Love you."

"Love you," they gave each other a quick kiss before Doug ran out of the workshop and to his car.

Uma had broken the tense silence with, "Your man wants me to do what now?"

"Doug just doesn't want to leave me alone. He's hardly left my side in months. In case something should happen, he wants to make sure someone's here with me."

Gil raised his hand in acknowledgement. "Uma and I are here with you."

"Yes, thank you Gil."

"Uh-huh, hold up," Uma started, "what do you mean by 'in case somethin' happens'?"

Evie had a knowing smirk when she replied, "Gross facts of life stuff." The smile seemed to grow more smug as she delightfully watched Uma cringe.

…

"Hey," Ben shifted topics as he was driving Mal back, "I want to thank you for being such a trooper through all this. I know you wanted a more intimate anniversary." Mal didn't say anything. "And I promise we'll get one."

She looked at him. "We will?"

"After all this is said and done; I'm gonna take you somewhere far away, just the two of us."

Mal took his hand in hers. "I'd like that."

"I thought you would."

They were sitting in comfortable silence as they drove up to the school. "What up with all the cars?"

"You think something happened?" Ben was the first out of his car with Mal close behind.

"Guys!" a familiar face came running to them.

"Jane? What are you doing here?"

"I was helping to plan for the Senior Dance when BOOM!"

"Something exploded?" Mal questioned.

"Are you okay?" Ben inquired.

Jane nodded profusely. "Yes, yes, I'm fine; I was in the ballroom."

"Where did the explosion happen?"

"In the art room."

"The art room?" Mal vocalized her confusion. "Why did it happen in the art room?"

"We were hoping you could tell us," this was how a worried—yet still surprisingly calm—Fairy Godmother made her appearance known. "Mal, do you know anything about this?"

"No, I was out for lunch with Ben."

"Dizzy and Celia," Ben remembered. "Mal: you let them use the art studio to study!"

"Oh my God! Are they okay!"

"They're fine," Fairy Godmother promised. "No one was in the room when it happened." Everyone blew out a sigh of relief. "But now that we know who was behind it, they will have to be apprehended."

"Fairy Godmother," Ben began, "I'm sure this wasn't done intentionally. It had to have been an accident. Maybe it was a potions final gone wrong."

"You know as well as I do that any and all potions are not permitted to leave the laboratories. And if they did, then Celia and Dizzy could be facing theft charges as well as property damage."

"Then they were studying magic!" Mal assumed.

"During school hours without proper supervision?"

"Which is also forbidden, right. I am at a loss: they told us they were going to study. I truly have no idea what-"

"Fairy Godmother," one of the staff members arrived on the scene, "one of Dizzy Tremaine's guardians is here to pick her up. Do you know where she is?"

"Evie's here?"

"It is a gentleman."

"Doug then," Ben deduced.

"Could you bring Mr. Miner over?" Fairy Godmother asked. The staff member nodded and went to fetch Doug. "I don't understand how this happened Mal, but it did. Only two girls know how it happened and we have to find them."

"Hi guys," Doug hurried over to the group. "Fairy Godmother-"

"We don't believe Dizzy was hurt. However, she doesn't seem to be accounted for."

"She hasn't tried to get in touch with me or Evie. Have you heard from Lady Tremaine or Drizella?"

"I sincerely doubt Dizzy would have made it to the Isle in the short amount of time that this happened. She and Celia couldn't have gotten far." Fairy Godmother turned to Ben. "With Your Majesty's permission: I'd like to place Auradon under lockdown so that they can't get any farther."

"Lockdown?"

"Isn't that a little extreme?" Ben asked. "Like what we do for criminals?"

"I'm afraid they have committed a crime," Fairy Godmother admitted. "Rest assured: the lockdown is mostly for their safety so that we can find them if they're not on school grounds. I just need Royal Permission."

"You have it."

"If you'll all follow me to my office."

Mal held Ben back. "Ben, what are we going to do? They're just kids."

"We're gonna get to the bottom of this." He headed into Auradon Prep, his reluctant wife behind him.

…

"Evie!" Carlos came running into the workshop. "Evie, you-" he noticed she wasn't alone, "-what are you guys doing here?"

"We came with Harry," Uma answered back.

"Harry's here?"

"Wasn't he just watching TV with you?"

"No, it's just—TV!" Carlos remembered why he came in. "Evie, they just announced on TV that they're putting Auradon under magical lockdown."

"What?" Evie, Uma, and Gil expressed this sentiment.

"There was an explosion at the school and the ones who were responsible aren't there. They're putting up a lockdown barrier so-"

"Hold up," Uma cut him off, "you mean like the ones who blew up the school aren't there?"

"I guess."

Uma chuckled. "I didn't think she had it in her."

Evie had caught on. "You think Dizzy had something to do with this?"

"Why else have you haven't heard from her?"

"Uma, I know Dizzy. She would never-"

"I think they said something about putting up a-" Jay ran into the workshop. He was about to say something more until he saw who else was here. "Gil. Hey."

Gil didn't really have anything to say so he acknowledged him with a, "Jay."

"Wait, I'm confused," Carlos interrupted. "If Harry's _here_ , then _where_ is he?"

"That's actually a good point," Uma agreed. "Last I saw he tried flirtin' with Princess and left the workshop."

Carlos groaned. "He picked Evie this month?"

"The boy ain't gonna learn."

"You guys aren't all concerned with the whole _lockdown_ part?" Jay questioned. "If Harry's still here, he isn't going anywhere-"

"-and neither are we," Evie finished as she sat in her chair.

"Well, Harry couldn't have gotten far," Uma figured. "Let's find him before he causes any more property damage."

"Any _more_?"

"Don't worry: it wasn't your property."

"Oh. That's…" unsure of how to respond, Evie turned away from them.

"Yee-ah, I'll start in the kitchen," Uma headed for the castle.

"I'll help you look downstairs," Carlos volunteered. "Jay."

"If I go," Jay began, "who's gonna watch after Evie?"

"I will," Gil point blankly said.

"Then who's gonna watch after you?"

"Jay, please, go with them," Evie pleaded. "I'll be fine with Gil."

"How hard can it be to find Harry? He's either in the kitchen with the booze, or in the bed with the-"

"JAY!"

"Okay, okay." With that, Jay left.

"Ugh," Evie groaned.

"You uh…" Gil felt a bit awkward, "you want me to like…do something?"

"Why don't you just go back to reading?"

"I'm honestly not all that great with word books. You ever been to Wonderland? Their books are nothin' but pictures; totally easy to read."

"Well, the only book in here that's primarily pictures I don't think you want to read."

"Try me."

Evie sighed. "I did warn you." She pointed to her husband's desk. "Just don't lose his place."

Gil looked over the cover. "Is this some science book?"

"You can say that."

He began skimming through pages. "Aw sick!"

"I warned you."

"No, I meant like cool sick! I can't believe they'd put stuff like this in a book; this stuff is gnarly! What am I looking at anyway?"

Evie looked at the title. " _Up Close and Personal: The Birthing Process_."

"Oh, so like when a baby's born?"

"I don't know what other possible definition there could be for 'birthing process'."

He looked through the pages. "Do all lady areas look like that?" Evie rolled her eyes. "Because when my mom had one of my little brothers hers-"

"Wait, what?" She turned her chair to him. "You actually saw a live birth before?"

"You don't really have decent medical care when you grow up on the Isle. You should know that. My mom had all of us at home. When you got old enough, you got to help her out. Okay, you weren't supposed to go down south—if you know what I mean," Evie nodded, "—but I looked a couple times. Did you know that a baby's head comes out before its legs?"

"Yes, Gil, I did."

He flipped a few more pages. "Oh, yep, it shows you right here," he proudly displayed the page.

"I read the book, Gil!"

"Oh, right, sorry, it probably grosses you out."

"Not as much as page fifty-three."

Gil turned to page fifty-three, and then tilted the book around. Unsure of what was supposed to gross him out, he shrugged and set the book on Doug's desk. "I don't know about you, but I'm suddenly hungry. Got a secret candy stash somewhere?"

…

"The barrier is completely up," Fairy Godmother announced Ben, Mal, Doug, and Jane. "I have it so that only I, or the king and queen, can break through or lift it. Now all there is to do is find Celia and Dizzy and bring them in for questioning."

"Fairy Godmother," Mal seemed a bit stung, "I wish you wouldn't talk like they're criminals. They're not. They're just teenage girls. I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding, or accident."

"I truly hope it is. Until we-"

"Plus this is further going to perpetuate the Villain Kid stereotype. It's not fair!"

"Mom," Jane began, "is there something wrong with the electricity? I'm trying to call Carlos, but nothing's happening on my phone."

"That might explain why I haven't gotten a hold of Evie," Doug added as he slid his phone into his pocket.

"All electricity and magic has been temporarily frozen," Fairy Godmother explained.

"Gee, let's hope no one was in the middle of an important TV show or anything." This got a few smiles from everyone but Mal. "Seriously though: can you give us any idea how long this is going to last?"

"I'm afraid I can't . All we can do now is wait."

…

"Found him!" Carlos called to everyone. Uma and Jay met him in the doorway. "He's asleep in the bathtub."

Jay was perplexed by this. "How?"

"Oh, he'll find a way," Uma went over to the bathtub, turned the faucet, and then turned on the shower.

"BLOODY HELL!" Harry nearly leapt out of the shower. "That is freezing!"

"What were you doing in the bathtub?"

Harry shrugged. "I got lost." She quirked a brow to him. "I suddenly felt the urge to vomit and somehow fell asleep in the bathtub again. At least I made it to the loo this time!"

"Just go sit on the couch."

Harry shuffled to the living room, plopped on the couch, and reached for the remote. "What the?" Nothing was working. "What's wrong with this bloody thing?" He waved the clicker every which way and got no result. So, he casually threw it over his shoulder and let it very loudly hit something that sounded fragile. "Thing's busted."

Turns out what Harry had hit with the remote was a large frame against the back wall. The first hit was the clicker hitting the glass in the frame. The crash was when the entire frame slid off the wall and onto the floor.

Gil came sprinting into the room when he heard it. "It's okay," he called behind him, "no one looks maimed!" He looked at the other four. "What happened?"

Uma, Jay, and Carlos (heck, even Harry) all pointed a finger at the guilty party and stated, "He did it."

Evie waddled into the living room. "Why do I have the feeling one of you destroyed something of value?"

"He did it," this time Gil joined in the pointing.

"Unsurprising."

Harry pointed to the TV. "TV's broken."

"The TV is _not_ broken."

"Actually E," Carlos was in control of the remote, "I think he's right."

"The internet will tell us how to fix it," Jay pulled out his phone. "Or not."

"Didn't find a way how?"

"Phone's not working. It's probably bad reception in here, I'll try outside." When Jay opened the front door, a force practically threw him back.

"Jay!" Carlos was vocal as he and Uma ran to him. Gil, meanwhile, had started to go to Jay, but stayed back. "You okay man?"

Jay put his foot through the door. "It feels like there's an invisible wall here."

"I think it's a Lockdown Barrier." When Carlos stuck his hand out, he felt a force holding him in. "There's some kind of force that won't let us out this door."

"Then just go out the back door," Uma marched back through the workshop and headed for the other door. When she tried to exit, she was peeved to discover that she couldn't. "Great."

"So we're stuck here?" Gil questioned.

"And we're just gonna have to make the most of it," leave it to Evie to play peacemaker. "Carlos: take the picture out of the frame and put it somewhere safe where it won't get damaged. Once that's done: Harry, you're going to clean up the mess you made. I don't care what you guys do after that, just please don't destroy anything else. Uma: we're gonna finish your dress in my workshop after you get me a pair of sweatpants. Jay and Gil…I know things are tense between you two, but if you're not going to work it out, then please keep your distance from each other and find something to do to occupy your time. Okay?" Gil scoffed at Jay and went back toward the workshop while Carlos went for the picture. Jay was about to protest, but Evie held up her hand to silence him. "Please Jay," Jay made himself comfortable on the couch. Evie then directed attention to Uma. "Just grab any pair of sweatpants out of my closet and meet me in my workshop."

"Whatever," Uma went to do to her task.

Evie turned to Harry. "There's a broom and dustpan in the hall closet."

"I must say," Harry sauntered over to Evie, "I'm liking this take-charge attitude."

"Back away," Harry made some sort of noise of pleasure (much to Evie's disgust) and went down the hall

Uma came back downstairs with a pair of purple sweatpants. "These okay?"

"Yes, thank you," Evie took the apparel from Uma. "I'm going to go change and then I'll meet you in the workshop."

"What, you gotta look good for a lockdown? What's wrong with what you're wearing?"

"Oh, my water broke," Evie said this like it was no big deal. "If I'm gonna change: I should probably get one of Doug's emergency tees out of the workshop."

"EXCUSE YOU?"

"Doug keeps some extra t-shirts in the wardrobe in the workshop in case-"

"I could care less about that part. Back up to what you said before that about your _water breaking_." Evie merely nodded. "And you're not freaking out about this?"

"What's not to freak out about?" Uma let out a disbelieved gasp. "Yes, the situation isn't really… _ideal_ , but it's probably not good for me to have any more added stress. So we're just going to pretend like…" Evie squeaked, bit her lip, and turned away, clearly having a contraction. She took some deep breaths before facing Uma with complete composure and told her, "everything's fine," through gritted teeth while gripping the wall for balance.

"Even though everything is NOT fine?"

Evie emitted some sort of screech through her closed mouth as her grip caused some very obvious damage to the wall. "Everything's. Fine."


	2. Isn't Something Bound to Happen

"Okay Evie," Carlos entered onto the scene, "I put that picture in the den." He noticed her quickly take her hand off the wall. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Evie tried to stay perky.

"She is not fine," Uma refuted. "She is havin' a baby."

"Say what?"

"Princess' water broke and she started havin' them pains."

"WHAT?"

"Oh really," Evie scoffed at their notion. "You guys are acting like this kind of thing doesn't happen."

"Not during a kingdom wide lockdown! Evie, you can't be having the baby!"

"I'm not."

"We're under lockdown, Doug's not here, we can't get a hold of anyone-"

"Carlos! Carlos, relax. Breathe," she and Carlos used one of her breathing techniques. "Yes, I know when the water breaks there's no turning back. This lockdown probably isn't going to last long and as soon as it's over, we'll call Doug and have him meet us at the hospital. I have a while. That last one was just one."

Uma folded her arms across her chest. "One out of how many?" Evie didn't respond. "When you called me earlier and stopped talking, you were having one of them. Weren't you?"

"Okay, yes," Carlos was about to lose his cool at Evie's revelation, "but that one didn't last very long, and neither did this one. Plus they haven't all been that close together."

"But you've had more than one?" Carlos questioned her.

"More than one what?" Jay made his way over to the group. "Somethin' goin' on I need to know about?"

"Evie's water broke."

Jay literally shrugged this off. "Then get her a new one."

"Baby water, Jay."

"Ah, that makes sense. 'Cause I didn't see her with-" the realization caught up with Jay, "-Evie, you're having the baby?!"

"At some point, yes," she answered back, "but not right now,"

"How can you be so calm?" Carlos clearly wasn't. "You just had an apostrophe!"

"Contraction," Evie corrected.

"Isn't somebody supposed to time them? Shouldn't we boil some water? Who's gonna deliver the baby?"

Evie was trying to keep cool, so she took in a deep breath and resisted the urge to slap him. "Carlos, relax. None of that is happening," he gave a noise between disbelief and uncertainty, "Okay, yes, it will be happening, but we have plenty of time. It might as well be common knowledge that first babies take their time to come out anyway. Stress is not healthy for me or my baby and will more than likely speed things up. So can we all just remain calm please."

"NO WE CANNOT!"

Evie looked to Jay. "Uma and I are going to the workshop to finish her dress. Could you please keep Carlos occupied so his freaking out doesn't freak the baby out?"

Jay recalled something. "Hey, earlier in your workshop before Doug left: you _were_ having one of them tractions?"

There was no point correcting him. "Fine: I had one, happy now?"

"NO!" that was Carlos who answered on his behalf.

"Hey Bro," Jay physically turned Carlos away from Evie, "why don't you not spazz out over there?" He led him away.

"Come on Uma," Evie motioned toward the workshop, "let's finish your dress."

"Are you sure you can do… _anything_?" Uma questioned her. "Shouldn't you be lying down in agony cursing your husband? I don't mind the cursing part."

"You can't believe everything you see on movies and TV, you know."

"Okay but what if this baby thing does happen? Why do _I_ gotta be in there?"

"I feel more comfortable if another woman was in the room with me. Since neither Mal nor my doctor is here, I'd feel better if you were in there with me."

"Please don't make me get all up in your business."

"It's not going to come to that. Even if it did: you won't have to. Gil will."

"I know I should be glad it won't be me, but you do realize which Gil you're talking 'bout, right?"

"Yes, I do, and I trust him." When the girls made it to the workshop, they came across Gil posing next to a mannequin. "Uh...is he having a posing contest with my mannequin or something?"

"Do you know who the man's father is?" Uma had a point. When Gil finally moved after some time, he let out a defeated noise. "What?"

"I lost," Gil announced.

"You _lost_?"

He pointed to the mannequin. "There's no way I can hold my pose as long as this girl can."

Uma diverted her attention back to Evie. "You sure you mean _that_ Gil?"

…

"Dizzy and Celia couldn't have gotten far," Jane tried to assure Mal, Ben, and Doug during lockdown at Auradon Prep. "With the barrier up, they're gonna be found easier. Plus we should take comfort knowing that they weren't actually in the room when it happened."

"Yeah, but that just raises more questions as to _why_ they weren't there," Doug figured. "If they knew this was going to happen, why didn't they try to get a teacher or Fairy Godmother to help them stop it?"

"What were they even doing?" Ben brought that point up. "We know Celia and Dizzy; they wouldn't do anything to cause this much damage."

Mal shot him a look. "But you're implying that they're likely to cause any sort of damage?"

"No, I'm not. I just want to make sense of this whole thing. The faster we figure this out, the faster we can get out of here."

"You think they're gonna call Dr. Facilier or Lady Tremaine?" Jane asked.

"Fairy Godmother has agreed to hold off on any calls until this thing is sorted out."

"We can't make any on lockdown anyway," a jittery Doug reminded as he looked at his phone.

"You know," Ben began, "your phone's not gonna work just because you keep looking at it."

"Yeah well, a lockdown wasn't on my list of things to do today. It doesn't help that I'm separated from my pregnant wife and have no way to contact her."

"You didn't leave her completely alone, did you?"

"No, Carlos and Jay are there." Doug remembered something. "So is Uma."

Mal was surprised at this. "Uma?"

"Evie wanted to finish Uma's dress and invited her over. I actually think Gil was there too."

"Gil? Gil is there the same time as Jay?"

"Don't tell me they broke up again?"

"Gil's been staying with Uma and Harry. Uma must have dragged them there to make them suffer."

"I thought she went with them because she can't drive a car?"

"That too."

"Then there's a good chance that Harry is there too," Ben felt the need to point out. "So you've got five other people there in case Evie goes into labor." While Ben thought that was funny, the others did not. "And I will not be making jokes anymore."

"Carlos was the one who told me about Gil and Jay," Mal broke the awkward silence. "He'll probably help keep them from each other. It's bad enough Uma and her cronies are there; they tend to cause trouble."

"And property damage," Doug added.

"Okay, fair. It shouldn't be for long though. Fairy Godmother's got every available law enforcement on patrol; this'll all be over sooner rather than later."

"Mal's right," Jane conceded. "This worrying isn't good for any of us. If we start thinking positive, then positive things will happen."

An excited Fairy Godmother entered the room. "They found Celia and are bringing her in."

Jane was in awe of what transpired. "Is the universe listening to me for once?"

" _Just_ Celia?" leave it to Ben to be the pessimist.

"I'm afraid so," Fairy Godmother confirmed, "but I'm certain that she'll see reason and tell us where Dizzy is. Positive thoughts bring positive actions."

"She and Jane should write a self-help book," Mal snarked under her breath.

"Mal," did Fairy Godmother hear her, "if it's not too much trouble, I would like for you to join me when I talk to Celia."

"Me?"

"Out of everyone here, you know her best. Perhaps Celia would feel more comfortable if you were there."

"Yeah, sure, I'll stick around."

"Great," Fairy Godmother was about to leave she gave a smug sort of grin to Mal, "maybe that will provide inspiration for my self-help book."

…

"Keep that pacing up and you'll dig a hole to the Underworld," Jay said as he watched Carlos pace back and forth. "You heard E: you gotta calm down."

"How can I calm down when this is all my fault?" Carlos was near hysterics.

Jay pondered this, but couldn't find a solution. "And _how_ is this all your fault?"

"Because Mal told me Evie's having a girl-"

"Evie's having a girl?"

"A-HA! I knew I couldn't keep it a secret! Mal tells me that and I go: 'how do you expect me to keep this a secret for the next two weeks'. Then Mal says: 'maybe the baby will come early and you won't have to'."

"Sounds to me like it's all _Mal's_ fault."

"And now I'm here, and Evie's here, but Evie doesn't know what I know, and I know I'm not supposed to tell her what I know, but I know that no matter what I do; I'll tell her what I know!"

"Um…yes?"

"Exactly! I can't keep secrets, Jay, you know this! And because I've got this secret weighing over me, every time I come near Evie, bad things happen because I'm trying hard not to tell her."

"What you need, is a distraction. Something to take your mind off of all this while serendipitously keeping you away from Evie."

"I…I don't feel like you used that word right."

"Got your mind off it, didn't it?" Carlos made some sort of grunt of agreement. "So what do you usually do to occupy your time?"

"Tinker with gadgets and electronics."

Strike one. "What else?"

"Well, Jane's been teaching me a little bit of magic."

Strike two. "Something that doesn't require thinking maybe."

Carlos shrugged. "Dance?"

Direct hit. "Dancing! Yes! Good! I can do that too!"

"We know pretty much all the same dances."

"Untrue. Remember that dancing gig I had before I went pro for Tourney?" Carlos nodded. "The choreographer guy showed us some kind of music video to this song that I can only describe as weird. It was really catchy though. Then he somehow put the song onto our phones…but that probably doesn't do us any good now. I still remember the dance; I can teach you without music."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but…"

"But?"

"It may be a little... _suggestive_ —did I use that word right?"

"You mean like look a little inappropriate?"

"Yeah, that!"

"Should I ask _why_ you learned this dance?"

"Bachelorette party."

"Ah."

"Those ladies were generous tippers though," Jay gave a coy chuckle as his thoughts flashbacked to that party.

"Did you really move on from Gil that quick?" And that was in the air. "I mean…I didn't mean-"

"We could both use a distraction." A loud snore did manage to provide one. Jay and Carlos simultaneously craned their heads toward the sofa where Harry Hook was splayed across it. "Huh, I forgot he was here."

"I kinda like him like this." Carlos and Jay shared a laugh.

"You know," Jay sounded like he had hatched a scheme, "Evie does keep various markers around the castle for her design projects. I don't think she'd miss a few."

"You want to color instead?"

"What? I was gonna suggest borrowing some of her markers to draw on Harry."

"Oh. Yeah, that sound does sound more fun."

…

As disgusted as she was by this whole "birth" notion, Uma was genuinely concerned and tried to make it seem like she wasn't watching Evie's every move. This was how Uma found Evie's tell: every time Evie bit her lip, it was a giveaway that she was trying to cover up the fact that she was in pain.

And Evie had been biting her lip a lot.

"…and that's basically what it looks like." Oh yeah, Evie was talking. She proudly stood beside a (different) mannequin in a cerulean, summer dress. "What do you think?"

"I think it's pretty!" Gil expressed his opinion.

"Thank you, Gil."

Uma looked over the outfit. "Hmm…this could work."

"So…" Evie was hoping for more.

"Alright, I like it." this made Evie squeal with delight. "Ugh, I hate when you squeal like that." Evie rolled her eyes. "Okay, so, we done now?"

"Even if we were, you still couldn't go anywhere." This made Uma grunt in aggravation. "Besides: this is primarily where I need you. I need you to try on the dress to see if I need to make any alterations."

"Fine," Uma yanked the dress off the mannequin and was about to slide it on over her head.

"Um, are you wearing those exact clothes under the dress on the day of?"

"Um, no; why do you care?"

"Unless you're going to be wearing anything more than your underwear underneath the dress, I need you to strip down before you put the dress on."

"You didn't say anything about me getting naked!"

"You don't have to get totally naked; you can keep your bra and panties on."

"Please don't use that word around me again."

"There's a dressing curtain in the corner if you feel self-conscious." Uma gave another groan and stormed over to the corner with the dress.

Gil, who had been sitting at Doug's desk reading the birthing book, spoke up. "Hey, I thought placenta was a type of olive?"

"You're thinking of a _pimento_."

"Oh," he acknowledged in understanding. "I thought that was a _polenta_."

"It's not."

"All these names sound alike. You can eat a placenta, right?"

"Gil, stop talking!" Uma commanded from behind the curtain.

"I'd rather not get into all that either," Evie admitted as she smoothed her hand over her bump. "I'm freaked out by this whole birth process as it is."

"You are?" Gil sincerely asked.

Evie nodded. "I can prepare myself with books and videos, but in the end it's not going to do any good. This is something I have to experience, and I am terrified to do so."

"Uh…you kinda have to."

"Yes, thank you, Gil; I'm aware."

"I think all women actually hate when it really happens. My mom did. I ask her why she did it so much if she hated it, and she told me it's because she loves us kids. And something about how every time she and Dad-"

"Yes, thank you, Gil; I get the picture."

"I think the whole 'having a baby thing' is really cool. How a woman can carry a person inside of her for practically a year and then have it force itself out of her body and-"

"Why are you still talking?" Uma questioned.

"Do you want kids, Gil?" Evie asked him.

Gil shrugged. "I dunno; but a lot of VKs grew up with just one parent and a lot of times, it was messed up. I'd want a kid to have both its parents. I did. I had my dad, my mom, my aunt, my aunt, and even Lefou was kinda like an uncle. Plus I had some older brothers and cousins to help out. Despite the little we had; I still feel like I had a lot."

Evie was hesitant to ask, but she did. "What about Jay?"

"I don't even know what he wants. I'm not gonna waste time trying to figure it out. Not when I can be exploring a whole new world." He tilted his head in confusion. "Have I heard that somewhere before?"

"You know something, Gil: you're pretty smart in your own way."

The sound of a zipper alerted them that Uma was done. Uma stepped out from behind the curtain. "Alright, I humored you and it fits. Can I take this off now?" Evie approached her to inspect the dress, making little "hmm" noises as she did so. "Must you always make annoying noises?"

"I think I'm going to make some more modifications. Please stand on the platform."

"Modifications?" She watched Evie get a basket of sewing supplies. "Are there sharp objects in that basket?"

"Platform please." Uma rolled her eyes and stood on the base in question. When Evie struggled to lower herself, Uma folded her arms and huffed. This was going to take forever. "Okay," Evie took out a needle.

"Nah-huh!" Uma backed away. "No way!"

"Uma, I'm not going to stab you."

"You say that, you get one of them pains you've been getting every few minutes, and then there's gonna be a hole in my leg!"

"Oh for the love of-" Evie tried to maintain cool. "Can I at least mark where I need to make the modifications?"

"Mark it with a marker or crayon?"

"Nope," Evie dug through her basket of supplies, "with bedazzle stickers. I also wanna see what some accessory décor would look like."

"Useless, unnecessary, irrelevant, pointless, a waste of time," she looked down at Evie, "which can also describe the me coming here."

"It may seem like that to you, but not to others." They didn't say anything for a few moments as Evie put on the accessories. "And…there." She pondered her work. "I may do something like this, but maybe like a seashell style."

"You do you, Princess. Can I get down now?"

"Yes, you may."

Uma needed no more incentive to come down. She was about to go and change until she noticed Evie was still on the ground. "Need some help there?"

"I can't get up."

"Yeah, I know, that's why I was asking…" she took stock of Evie on her knees clutching at her stomach, "you having one of them contraption things?"

Evie started flailing her arms. "Trash can!"

"What?"

"I need-" the bluenette made a retching sound

"Oh crap!" Uma got the idea and managed to get a waste bucket to Evie in time.

By this point, Gil was at Uma's side. "Actually Uma, it's called a _contraction_."

"How many times I gotta tell you to shut up today, boy?"

Evie made a gesture for Uma to lower the receptacle. "Has anyone checked to see if the barrier lifted."

Uma gestured for Gil to go do so. "I haven't heard anything, but Gil could-" she took notice of Gil, "-if you couldn't get out the first time, what makes you think you're gonna get out any time after?"

"Please tell me one of you has a working phone."

Uma (and Gil) checked. "I got nothin'. Is everything okay, Princess?"

"No! No, everything is NOT okay!" Evie had tears in her eyes. "I can't stay in denial: this is the real deal; I think it has been since last night, but I didn't want to believe it. Just now I felt something moving down and it really hurt. It's been kind of hurting to stand, but now I can't even get up."

"Oh, yeah, that is _not_ okay."

"What do we do?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Uma," Gil started, "I know you like to be Captain and all that, but can you let me take the lead?"

"Who are you and what have you done with Gil?"

"I know this is a tense situation, but I know what to do. First we have to try to remain calm and make Evie as comfortable as possible. Since it's gotten to the point where she can't even stand upright, we have to keep her on the floor. One of us needs to stay here with her and the other needs to get some pillows, towels, a small blanket, and a few water bottles—try to get a cold one."

"I volunteer to get all the stuff."

"Get the guys to help you if you need to. Remember: we need at least two pillows to keep her elevated."

"I gotta say Gil: you're really-"

"Sometime today!"

Uma hurried off while mumbling, "Stealin' my lines and everythin'."

…

Despite the tense situation, Celia Facilier appeared to be cool. She sat in Fairy Godmother's office with her feet propped on the chair across from her. "What up, ya'll?" she greeted the headmistress and the queen of Auradon.

"Is now really the time Miss Facilier?" Fairy Godmother questioned.

Celia shrugged. "I don't know why you went to extremes for a little accident."

"A little accident that caused destruction to a building."

"I was studyin' for my chemistry final during lunch without supervision."

"And you weren't doing this in the chemistry lab?"

"It was full: whatcha gonna do?"

"Well, seeing as you asked," Fairy Godmother went to her desk and looked at Celia's file, "I'm afraid I'm going to have to expel you."

"What?" even Mal was vocal on this.

"I'm sorry Celia, but this would be your third strike. You've been given multiple detentions for minor infractions-"

"But that's nothing!" Mal was protesting on Celia's behalf.

"-and three suspensions; twice for physical altercations and once for causing one of the teachers to trip and fall down the stairs. Policy states that anything after three suspensions is grounds for expulsion."

"But it was an accident!" Celia's façade had faded. "I didn't even do it this time!"

"Would you care to explain?"

Celia sighed. "Dizzy's been freakin' out about finals; especially for Mr. Deley's classes. She gets all anxious trying out these…chemistry things around other people. She knows this stuff, so I just wanted her to practice somewhere where she wouldn't get all whacked out and where no one else would be."

"The art room," Mal didn't need to state where that was going, but did anyway.

"We were makin' fun of the way Mr. Deley does his sciency stuff when Dizzy accidentally mixed something she should have. Then she tells us we need to run. I ask why, but she grabs me and hurries me away from there and next thing I know BOOM!" She used hand gestures to demonstrate the explosion. "Now Dizzy's freaking out more and she's got me freakin'. So I tell her to act casual and we sneak out of the school. We're hiding out where you found me when my magic senses the barrier. I know that it'll trap whoever's behind a door, so I push Dizzy outside and tell her to hide."

"Why?"

"Dizzy hasn't gotten in trouble since she came here. I wasn't gonna let that happen. I'd figure I'd just get another suspension or at worse, summer school," Celia shuddered at the thought.

"Where's Dizzy now?"

"I don't know. The last I saw her, she was runnin' in a forward direction."

"Well Celia," Fairy Godmother started, "there will be consequences for your actions. Because you have stolen school property and withheld vital information, you will have to make up for this. I'm afraid I'm going to have you repeat the twelfth grade."

"What?"

"You have gotten yourself in a lot of trouble this year and your grades reflect on that."

"But-" Celia turned to Mal, "-back me up on this."

"Why?" Mal questioned back. "I think this is fair."

"You're on her side?"

"I had to pull a lot of strings to get you in to this school and you repay me with countless detentions, three suspensions, dismal grades, aiding in destruction of property, and then expect me to let you graduate? You can do so much better than this, Celia; I know you can. This is for the best."

Celia sighed in frustration. "Fine." She then softened a little when she looked at Fairy Godmother. "Just promise that you don't expel Dizzy. She's worked too hard for this, and I don't want her to lose it because of me."

"I will think of an appropriate punishment for Dizzy," Fairy Godmother spoke in a reassuring tone. "First and foremost: we have to find her. You're certain you have no idea where she is or may be?"

Celia shook her head. "Someplace with ice cream? Girl loves her ice cream."

"True," Mal agreed, "but she couldn't get in anywhere without being caught. We need to think like Dizzy. Whenever she gets worried, or scared, or upset, she goes to Evie. However, in a situation like this, she wouldn't want to tell Evie. Her mind would automatically assume the worst and for her the worst thing would be…" Mal looked as if she had a breakthrough. "I think I know where she might be. Fairy Godmother: you said Ben and I have access to get through the barrier?" The older woman nodded. "The worst thing for Dizzy would be for her to get expelled from Auradon Prep and then sent back to the Isle."

"So you're suggesting that Dizzy would have headed back to the Isle?"

"Right; but the barrier went up before she could get there. If she's been on foot this whole time, there's a chance she may not have even made it to the border."

"You're sure of this?"

"Not entirely, but it's the only lead we've really got."

"Then I suggest you and Ben follow up on it."

Mal smiled. "Thank you, Fairy Godmother."

"I will send some of Auradon's Law Enforcement in that direction in case she hasn't made it there yet."

"That will only make her panic more. If they find Dizzy before we do, let me know and I'll talk to her. She knows me and she'll listen."

"Very well." Fairy Godmother made the "shoo" gesture. "Off you go; be on your way." Mal couldn't help but let out a little laugh as she left the office.

When she returned to the room she had previously been waiting in, three other people were eagerly awaiting her. "Well?" Mal's husband questioned.

"Ben," Ben's wife began, "you and I are going to find Dizzy."

"You know where she is?"

"No, but I have an idea where to look. Since you and I are the only other people who can get through the barrier and that Dizzy will talk to, we're going." She was headed for the door, but he wasn't. "I meant right now."

"Oh!" Ben took the hint and followed Mal. "Doug, Jane, we'll be back."

Doug took some steps forward, "Wait, do you think you can-too late, they're gone."

"The sooner they find her, the sooner we get out of here," Jane reminded.

"Yeah, I know." Doug couldn't help but fidget as he sat back down. "Just doesn't seem like it's happening anytime soon."

"You okay? You're usually not this tense."

"I just can't shake the feeling that something's going on back at the workshop."

"With all those people at your place, isn't _something_ bound to happen?" Jane put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Doug, relax: I'm positive everything's fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried to make a reference to Gil's mother being one of the Bimbettes—possibly the one in the brownish-orange dress. Honestly: it seemed like the only logical choice to me. Plus in the books by Melissa de la Cruz, Gaston fathered twins and the Bimbettes all look pretty identical so...


	3. What Did We Miss

Having used up the only marker they could find that wasn't in the workshop on Harry's face, Carlos had agreed to let Jay teach him the dance Jay performed at a bachelorette party.

"Mosey forward," Carlos was reviewing what Jay had taught him. "Name in lights. Comb your hair."

"Don't forget the butt pop after name in lights," Jay reminded. "Try thrusting your butt a little bit before name in lights to help you remember to pop it."

"Is it me, or does this dance feature a lot of butt?"

"Ladies love the butt."

"Do I want to know," this was how Jay and Carlos found out Uma was behind them. "Actually, yeah, I do: context please."

"Jay's teaching me a dance he learned at a bachelorette party," Carlos elaborated. "We're trying to keep my mind off what's going on with Evie."

"Yee-ah…you go ahead and pop that butt then. You," Uma pointed to Jay, "wake up Hangover Hook over there. I need as many hands on deck as I can get."

"Need help getting ready for prom?" Jay jested. "And where's your good buddy Gil; why isn't he helping?"

"Hmm, where is my good buddy Gil and why isn't he helping? He actually is helping. Good buddy Gil needed to stay in the workshop with Princess as she pops a baby out of her."

"What?"

A very anxious Carlos resumed his choreography. "Typing motion, pull it back! Typing motion, PULL IT BACK!"

"You only need to do that once."

"TYPING MOTION, PULL IT BACK!"

"I'm gettin' supplies," Uma explained, "but without help, I'd have to make a lotta trips. I'm gonna get a bunch of pillows, I assume you know where the towels are so I need you to get those, and Hook can get some bottled water—preferably one that's cold. I think there's something else I'm forgetting, but I don't know. I do know that we have to get the stuff, and we have to get it fast."

"Wait," Carlos tore off his pink jacket and handed it to Uma, "you're gonna need something warm to wrap the baby in. But if Evie asks, I'm letting her use it because it's warmer than a towel, not because she's having a girl." Carlos stamped his foot. "Also: don't tell Evie's she's having a girl." He turned away and returned to his dancing. "Jump forward. Pelvic pump."

"Carlos doesn't always do well in a crisis," Jay didn't really know what to say. "Okay: I'll help get what you need and then come back here to keep Carlos away from Evie and me away from Gil."

"I know now's not the time," Uma began, "but when this is over you need to find the time and make up with Gil so he can get out of my house. Right now, you need to wake Hook up and have him get the water. I'll get pillows," Uma ran off to fetch pillows.

Jay went over to the sofa and lightly shoved Harry. "Harry," now came some tapping. "Hey man, you gotta wake up." When that didn't work, Jay's shoving and tapping got a little more forceful. "Wake up, you lazy drunk!"

Harry bolted up with a start. "I can't stay I've got a thing in the mornin'!"

"What?"

"Oh, it's you." Harry yawned. "Automatic response."

"Don't care. We need you to get some water bottles and take them to the workshop. Make sure one of them's cold. Captain's orders."

"Ugh," Harry begrudgingly stood up and went to the kitchen. He went about his task and headed into the workshop. "What am I s'posed to do with these?" he noticed Gil and Evie on the floor. "Oh, ho-ho," he sauntered over to them, "may I join in?"

Gil shot him an "are you serious" look. "Dude, really?"

"You're clearly making a bed," Harry lowered himself next to Evie, "and the most fun things happen in the bed." He winked at her.

"I suddenly feel the need to vomit again," Evie bemoaned.

"Harry, since you're here, can you help to keep Evie sitting up?" Gil requested. "It's not a good idea for her to be totally laying down."

"Though some might beg to differ," Harry suggestively quipped as he got behind her.

Evie let out a groan that they weren't sure stemmed from pain or annoyance. "Does he have to be here? I'd rather have Uma hold me." Harry's naughty chuckle elicited a scoff from Evie.

"When she gets back, Harry will leave," Gil assured. As Harry was about to protest, Gil cut him off with, "Harry. Will. Leave." He then sat across from Evie. "You gotta open your legs so I can check you out—Harry, don't say anything."

"I'd…I'd really rather you not. Can we put a sheet or something up and you can just kinda feel your way down there?"

"Okay, even I know that's a stupid idea." Harry nodded in agreement. "Evie, please understand I take no pleasure in doing this. I'm only at this end because I've seen it firsthand and it doesn't make me nauseous."

"Doesn't that contradict your orientation, Mate?" Harry questioned.

"I'm gonna ignore you and take off her sweatpants."

"Now why couldn't I do that part?"

"Harry, could you keep in your pants?" Gil reprimanded as he tore Evie's off. "Oh-kay, that's definitely a baby."

"Is she…" Harry had caught on, "is she about to spew a child out of her?"

Evie gave another groan. "Can he please leave now?"

"Yes, can I please leave now?"

"I got the pillows!" they heard Uma announce.

"Oh good, you're here," when Harry saw her enter, he immediately hurried away from Evie, letting her fall to the floor in the process. "Sorry, 'bout that," he did apologize as he ran out.

"Uma, please help keep Evie up," Gil requested.

"Yeah," she started placing pillows under Evie as Evie tried to suppress a scream. "Okay, you gotta stop holdin' in the shrieks and moans and just let out." When Evie did, Uma winced in regret.

Jay came running in. "I got the towels," he dropped them next to Gil so that he could back away and not catch an unwanted glance at Evie's "lady area". "Uma, don't forget about the jacket."

"Right!" she found a pink jacket smushed amongst some pillows and set it next to the makeshift bed. "Carlos is letting you use this to wrap the baby in."

"Do we need anything else?"

"I need to get this baby out of me!" Evie cried out in pain. "Can I just start pushing?"

"No!" Gil told her. "That baby birthing book says something pushing about ten cent-i-meters," no one corrected him at his pronunciation gaff. "Jay, hand me the book on that desk." Jay found the book and practically threw it at Gil. Thankfully, Gil dodged before it him. "Thanks for almost hitting me with that, Man."

"I don't want to look down there!" Jay defended. "I'd really rather not be in the vicinity of baby fluid, thank you very much."

"Then why don't you just go."

"Okay, I will," Jay marched out of the room.

"He's useless here anyway," Gil opened the book and compared its pictures to Evie. "You're not at ten cent-i-meters yet. Judging from the pictures: you're a little more than halfway there. Probably about…" he glanced in between the book and the Evie, "seven cent-i-meters."

"What?" Evie didn't want to believe that. "I can't be that close! First babies are supposed to take their time! I'm supposed to have time! This can't be happening that fast! Doug's not even here!"

"No, he's not; but you've still got some ways to go. And according to the book: the act of pushing the baby out can also take hours."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better right now?"

"You're probably around the…" he struggled to read the word, "tran-sit-ion-all stage. I'd tell you more what that means, but I can't really read too good."

A contraction caused Evie to cry out in pain, much to Uma's chagrin. "I'll tell you what it means: it means this stage is causin' all the pain!" Uma defined. "Isn't she supposed to do some weird breathing thing to help?" She noticed the confused looks. "In movies and TV she goes to some classes and they have this weird way of breathing that's supposed to help with pain."

"Do you remember it?"

"Only because it was stupid."

"Maybe it's not stupid right now. Can you at least try?"

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Gil Legume?" He couldn't help but grin at that. "How did they do that?" Uma thought back at what she saw, and then demonstrated what she remembered. "Try that, Princess," Evie (and even Gil) soon joined in. It did manage to calm Evie. "Maybe those idiots on TV did know what they were talking about."

…

"Ben, stop," Mal instructed before he pulled up to the border between Auradon and the Isle. "That's her." As he took his seatbelt off, she stopped him. "You stay here, I'm gonna go alone."

"You sure?" he double-checked.

"I got this."

"Kiss for luck?" They smooched. "Good luck."

Mal took a deep breath and headed over to where a figure was sitting. She didn't say anything as she took a seat beside Dizzy, opting to have the other girl break the silence. When Dizzy just buried her head in her knees, Mal decided to speak up. "We found Celia and she told us what happened." Dizzy let out a whimper. "I don't want to say that you're not in trouble, because Fairy Godmother did say there will be consequences for your actions. I can say that those consequences do _not_ involve sending you back to the Isle."

"But I blew up the school," Dizzy reminded.

"Not all of it."

"They're gonna kick me out of Auradon Prep and then I'll have to go back to Granny."

"No, they're not. This was only your first mess up and you didn't do this alone."

"Celia wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for me."

"You could have said no to her and just do it in the chemistry lab."

"I didn't want to mess up and then everyone would make fun of me. Practicing alone was going well until I accidentally mixed the wrong chemicals because Celia and I were laughing. When I realized what I'd done, I just ran. I know I wasn't thinking. Now I'm in trouble and I'm gonna be arrested."

"This lockdown was mostly put up so we could find you. Above all: everyone was worried about you."

Dizzy couldn't help but sob. "And now everyone's gonna hate me."

"No," Mal pulled her closer and soothed her back, "no one's gonna hate you. You made a mistake, we want to help you fix it."

"When Evie finds out she won't-"

"Evie is not going to kick you out. She loves you like a sister. And even if they were gonna kick you out of school, she'd still let you keep your job. Even more so because she's gonna have a baby. And since you're like her sister, this baby will be like your niece and you-"

That last statement cheered Dizzy up and she squealed with delight. "Evie's having a girl?!"

"Dammit," Mal cursed under her breath knowing Dizzy couldn't really keep secrets either (though at this point, Mal herself could be included in that list). "Okay, yes, but you're not supposed to know."

"Can I at least tell Celia?"

"I guess; I don't think she'd really care."

"Oh my God, this is so cool! I can't wait to play with the baby, and teach her everything I know, and do her hair and makeup, and…this is so exciting!" Dizzy suddenly stopped. "I'm still in trouble though."

"Dizzy, I promise you're going to stay in school and stay here in Auradon. Even if I have to use my Queenly Privilege to keep it that way."

Dizzy embraced Mal in a hug. "Thank you, Mal."

"Come on: let's get you back so we can lift the barrier."

"Then can we get ice cream?"

"After your punishment."

"Ugh, fine." Dizzy followed Mal to the car.

"Dizzy, thank God," he went over to her to make sure she wasn't maimed. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Are you mad at me?"

He shook his head. "No; but I've been really worried. What made you go and run off like that?"

"We'll explain in the car," Mal told him. "For now: let's go home so we can end this lockdown."

…

"And butt pop," Jay was choreographing Carlos and Harry. "Wow, Harry, you catch on quick."

"And sorry about the whole drawing on your face thing," Carlos apologized.

Harry shrugged. "You didn't use permanent marker. Plus you just gave me glasses, a mustache, and a goatee; that's rather tame compared to the phallic drawings."

"What does 'phallic' mean?"

Before Harry could define, Jay clapped his hands together. "Let's try it from the top guys! A five-six-seven-eight." He clapped his hands to the rhythm as he listed the dance moves. "Spank that bottom! Spank that bottom!"

"CARLOS HAS A MESSAGE!" the sound of Dude's voice had everyone looking around the room in confusion.

"The bloody hell is that?" Harry questioned.

"That's just my text notification," Carlos clarified. "I recorded my dog-"

Jay had interrupted him by bringing up, "How could you get a text notification if electronics aren't working?"

"I couldn't unless…" immediately, all the guys went for their phones as the TV started droning in the background. "Hey, I think everything's working! Guys!" Carlos ran into the workshop. "Guys," he paused when he noticed a pained Evie trying to breathe around an uncomfortable Uma as Gil read a book at Evie's legs. "Guys, wait til you hear what's happening!"

"Kind of in the middle of something Carlos," Evie replied through gritted teeth.

"I think the lockdown's ending. Our phones and the TV are working. I'm gonna see if we can go outside." Carlos ran past them and out the workshop door. "WE CAN!" He cheered as he came back in. "Guys, we can go outside!"

"I'm so frickin' happy you can go outside, Carlos! Why don't you go and-" Evie's next choice in words weren't exactly Carlos friendly. Heck, even Uma and Gil were staring at her in shock.

"She uh…" Uma didn't know what to say to that, "…she didn't mean that; that's the pain talking."

Carlos pointed to the door. "I'm gonna go around the front and see what Jay and Harry are doing."

No sooner had Carlos left did Evie's phone ring. "I'll get it!" Uma bounded from her spot next to Evie and over to the desk where Evie's phone was. "It's your man." Uma answered her phone. "Hey Doug, what up?"

" _Uma_?" on the other end of the line, Doug sounded confused.

"That's my name."

" _Are you still with Evie?"_

"Unfortunately."

" _Can I talk to her?"_

In the background, Evie let out another agonized moan. "Yee-ah, I don't really think she can talk right now."

" _What? Why not? What did you do?"_

"Me? Nuh-uh, I had nothing to do with this; this was all you, Dork."

" _She's in labor isn't she?"_ Doug sounded surprisingly calm.

"And you're not freaking out?"

" _Oh, I am; very much so. I'm just trying to remain as calm as I possibly can so that I don't say or do anything I'll regret. That being said: could you please put me on speaker so that I can talk to my wife?"_

Uma brought the phone over to Evie and put it on speaker. "Okay Dork, you're on speaker."

" _Evie? Evie, can you hear me?"_

"Doug!" hearing her husband's voice brought some sense of comfort to Evie. "Doug, please tell me you're on your way."

" _I'm just leaving the school. Everything's fine, I'll explain it all later, but right now I have to focus getting back safe to you."_

"Everything's happening so fast. I'm afraid you won't make it."

" _Don't think like that. Positive thoughts bring positive actions. I'll be there."_

"I'm sorry, Doug, I should have listened to you last night when you said that discharge might have been my mucus plug."

"Oh my God," Uma was visibly disgusted by that.

"If I did, then I wouldn't be on the workshop floor having Gil deliver the baby."

Doug didn't expect to hear that part. _"Gil?"_

"Hi, Doug!" Gil greeted to the phone. "Hey Doug, she's almost to page fifty-three!" Evie let out another anguished cry. "But, uh…I think she already knows that."

"YA THINK?" Evie bitingly questioned back.

" _Okay…"_ Doug was trying to form a coherent thought, " _just…I'll be there as soon as I can."_

"Doug-" too late, he had hung up. Another moaned cry. "He's not gonna make it!"

"Yes, he will, Princess," Uma tried to assure. "Dork's always been there for you and I can tell he's doing everything to get here. I hate to admit it: but I actually like you two together."

"Aww, you do?"

"Yes," Uma grumbled her admittance. "So maybe that will be enough for the universe to let him get here on time."

Another pain shot through Evie. "Oh no!"

"What 'oh no', don't say 'oh no'! 'Oh no' what?"

"I have to push."

"OH NO!"

"Evie, no!" Gil tried to sway her from not doing that. "You're only dill-at-ed to nine and you gotta wait til you're at ten before pushing."

Evie didn't exactly agree with that notion. "Screw that!"

"It's not gonna be much longer. Until then, you need to focus on something besides the urge to push. Uma, can you distract her?"

"Umm…" Uma looked around the room. "So Princess, what's the latest in fashion right now?"

"I don't want to talk about fashion, Uma!" Evie snapped at her.

"Well, I got nothin'."

"Hey guys," Carlos came back in the room with Jay and Harry. "I think we can help with the distraction thing."

"You gonna get her some drugs or somethin'?"

"No," Jay answered back. "Boys, let's get in formation," Jay did something with his phone before setting it down. Suddenly the sounds of _"Push It"_ encompassed the room. In what was almost perfect synchronization, Harry, Jay, and Carlos were performing the full dance they had been taught earlier.

This simple gesture brought a smile to Evie's face. "I'm definitely distracted." She kept her eyes on the dance as Uma pulled out her phone and filmed.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, Uma was also enjoying this. "So. Much. Butt." When the dance was over and the men had taken their bows, Evie let out a shriek of anguish louder than her previous ones. "She'd give you a round of applause, but…" Uma gestured to the scene before them.

"Okay, we are definitely at ten!" Gil announced.

"What do you mean _we_?" Evie griped at him.

"Evie, it's all you! You can push with the next contraction."

"And we're outta here," Jay had informed them before he, Harry, and Carlos sprinted out of the room.

"Eh," Uma wasn't fazed by this, "they're pretty much useless anyway." The only response to this was Evie crying out in pain again. "Ah! Why couldn't they have used that time to call for medical attention?"

"It wouldn't get here fast enough," Gil answered her rhetorical question. "Evie, you can start pushing now."

Evie vehemently shook her head and repeated, "No."

"Didn't you practically beg to start pushing?" Uma questioned her.

"I changed my mind. I'll wait."

Gil practically vetoed that idea by telling her, "I don't think your baby's gonna wait."

Unfortunately for Evie, he was right. "Oh my God," she reached out and grabbed Uma's arm.

"Push!"

"Ah!"

"AH!" the last scream was Uma as Evie put her arm in a death grip. The back and forth screaming between the women continued until Gil asked Evie to stop pushing. Uma tried to hide the tears that welled in her eyes as she looked away and rubbed her arm. "Damn Princess, trim your fingernails!"

"I'm here!" Doug's voice could be heard approaching the workshop before he burst through the door.

"Doug!" Despite the misery she was in, Evie was overjoyed to see him and she let him give her a quick kiss. "You made it."

"I told you I would."

"Great," Uma stood up. "Now that your man's here, I'm gonna-"

"No, don't go!" Evie stopped her. "I really want you to stay."

"Yeah, but I really don't."

"As temporary Captain, I'm ordering you to stay," Gil commanded.

"But-"

"Captain's Orders."

Uma huffed. "Fine, I'll go stand over there."

"Actually Uma, I need you to help hold Evie's leg back. I'm gonna need a little more space for the head and shoulders to come out."

"So you want me…" Uma was none too thrilled about where the needed location was. "Nuh-uh! Nope! No way!"

"Yeah-huh! Yep! And yes way!"

Naturally, the former captain grumbled as she got back down. "Okay, but I'm lookin' away and keepin' my eyes closed."

"Good luck with that. Doug can you get the other leg?" Doug nodded and held back Evie's other leg with one hand while Evie held onto his other one. "Cool," Gil looked down at the book. "Okay so after this next push, the head should be out."

"And then she's done, right?"

"I don't know, Uma; are you just a head?"

"I meant can't you just pull it out once the head comes through?"

"Can I?" Evie's screaming alerted them that it really wasn't the time to focus on that. "Right, gotta get the head first. Evie: keep pushing. Uma: hold up the book and turn it until you see a picture with a baby's head out."

With noticeably reluctant disgust, Uma picked up the book and saw its photographic contents. "Oh my God, that is unnatural!" She flashed him the book. "That's it, right?"

"One more page." Uma turned the page without looking. "That doesn't help me, it's mostly words! Read what it says!"

Uma held the book out to Doug. "You heard the man, read what it says."

Doug tried to. "I can't really read it with your shaking."

"Then take the book."

"With what, my foot? Uma, you're gonna have to read it."

"I'll just try to hold it so-"

Evie wasn't having any of this. "Will you just read the damn book already?!"

Uma swallowed the bile rising in her throat and made a retching noise. "The book says that once the head is out, the baby should be cleared of any fluid in its mouth or nose. If possible: clear the breathing pathways before or during the delivery of the shoulders. Once both of the baby's shoulders are delivered, the baby will essentially slide out. She's gotta push til both the shoulders are out." As she looked away from the book, Uma caught a glimpse of something coming out. Again, she somehow managed to hold back the vomit and eased some tension by revealing to Evie, "Kid's got a full head of hair."

Doug looked down and gasped in awe. "Evie, it's blue! The hair is blue."

"Why would you willingly look at that?"

"You're doing so good, Evie. She's almost out."

"Dude! She's not supposed to know."

"Evie couldn't wait; we found out a couple of days ago."

"You tellin' me Carlos could have been in here this whole time?"

"Please tell me the shoulders are out!" Evie whined.

"Just one," Gil informed as he finished cleaning out the baby's nose and mouth. "Uma, ready the jacket." Uma picked up the discarded jacket and readied it. "It's all you, Evie."

"You got this," Doug assured her as he squeezed her hand.

Evie nodded weakly and used whatever strength she could muster for one last push. And then, her cries of pain were drowned out by someone else's crying. "Is she okay?"

Gil smiled up at Evie. "She's okay." He wrapped the newborn in the jacket as a bewildered Uma watched. When Evie held out her arms, Gil took the hint and passed the jacketed newborn to her awaiting mother.

"Oh my God," despite the biggest smile on her face, Evie couldn't fight back the tears when she looked at her husband. "This is our baby."

"I'm so proud of you," Doug praised as he kissed his wife's forehead. "Evie, she's so beautiful."

They watched as their daughter opened her eyes and explored the world around her. "Doug, she has your eyes."

"Thankfully she has your looks."

"She's looking at me," Evie cooed as she stroked the newborn's cheek. "Hi," she let the baby grip her finger. "Thanks for coming out of me."

"Hey uh…" Uma cleared her throat unsure of what to say, "congratulations. You did good, Princess."

"Thank you, Uma. I really do appreciate you being here."

"You do realize I'm never gonna be able to look at you the same way ever again." This made the new parents laugh. "Also, there's some… _birth_ on this dress I'm wearin', so you might wanna…"

"We'll worry about that later."

There was a tap on the workshop door. Carlos was standing there with Jay and Harry behind him. "You guys up for some visitors?"

"Come on in."

Carlos lead the way as the three of them gathered around the birth site. Once again in near perfect sync, Carlos, Jay, and Harry went "Aww," and fawned over the newest arrival.

"Hey guys, I want to thank you for the dance. It really meant a lot that you did that for me."

"Don't mention it," Jay brushed that off as he let his niece take a hold of his finger. "This one's got a strong grip."

"Does she have a name?" Carlos inquired.

"We thought about breaking tradition and not naming the baby with 'D' or 'E'," Doug explained. "That just made it all the more harder to find names."

"We also wanted to try to find a name that seemed unique," Evie added. "Like one that seemed normal, but you never really hear it."

"That was one of the reasons we spoiled the sex of the baby."

Carlos' jaw went slack. "Wait, you already knew?"

Evie nodded. "Anyway: Doug and I found ourselves coming back to the name 'Emma'."

"The only problem is the name is really common," Doug noted. "I mean apparently the name 'Emma' means 'universal' and you hear it practically everywhere."

"So we tried some variations on that name and found one that just…it just seemed right."

"And directly after we tried it aloud, our daughter kicked in response like she was giving her approval."

"Therefore: we're going to name her _Emmy_."

"Aww, Emmy's a really pretty name," Carlos complimented.

Jay tilted his head when he looked at the baby. "Yeah, she looks like an Emmy."

"Do we know any Emmys?" Harry asked Uma and Gil.

Uma contemplated this. "No, but does Emmy sound like some kind of award?"

"Well, she's my award," Evie defended.

There was a knock on the door. "That's probably the ambulance we called," Carlos observed as he answered the door.

"I'll get out of the way," Gil rose from his spot and walked away.

"Gil," Jay chased after him, "what you did for Evie: that was pretty amazing." Gil didn't say anything. "I'm sorry, okay." That got Gil's attention. "I just…I tried to make you jealous. I didn't know you were gonna freak out like that."

"Jay, I'm not good with words, and feelings, and stuff; but I had this weird feeling that I can't explain when I saw you flirting with Lonnie, and then she kissed you, and then you kissed her back, and you kept on kissing her-"

"Alright, I kissed her!"

"I had never felt like that before when you did that. Usually when you flirt with other people, you just flirt and then we go back to our place. I do that too, but we never take it as far as you did when you made out with her. I got really jealous and we both said some things. Then when I said what I said about wanting it to be just you and me: you just dropped the subject like it meant nothing and so I went back to Uma's."

"It caught me off guard: I didn't know what to say."

"So say something now. Are we in this together, just you and me? Can I call you my boyfriend?"

Jay grinned. "Only if I can call you mine."

Gil hugged him. "I missed you too, Jay."

"Come home." Gil nodded and the two shared a tender kiss.

"Ahem," everyone turned to see Ben had entered through the castle into the workshop with Mal, Jane, and Dizzy (who was eating ice cream) behind him, "what did we miss?"

…

Once everything was settled and everyone met Emmy, Ben and Mal returned to their own castle. "She's probably the cutest baby I've ever seen," Ben broke the silence when they arrived home.

"Yeah," Mal didn't put any emotion in her tone when she agreed.

"You okay?"

"Ben…" Mal sighed, "I've been lying to you."

"You have?"

She nodded. "There's a reason I haven't gotten pregnant yet."

"Is there something wrong physically?"

"I'm still taking birth control."

"Oh?"

"I wasn't sure if I was ready for kids. I was happy with it being just us and wanting to resist expectations to give you an heir. But after today…" she trailed off, "after all that with Celia, and Dizzy, and Evie and Emmy: I did some thinking."

"And?"

"And as an anniversary present to you: I'm going to stop taking birth control."

He approached her. "You mean that?"

A nod. "I don't think anyone's ever really ready to be a parent when it happens, but then it does and a sort of instinct takes over. I sorta felt that instinct today, and I want it. And if you really love the person you're with, you want to share a little piece of them forever and a child is the best example of that. I love you, Ben. I love you and I want to have your children."

"I love you too," he kissed her, "and if I could: I would want to have your children."

"I would definitely prefer you had them as well," they shared a laugh.

"We're really gonna try for a baby, no turning back?"

"No turning back."

Ben enveloped her in his arms. "You seem kinda tense. Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Mal assured him as she watched the clock strike midnight. She let himself fall further into her embrace as she confirmed, "everything's fine."


End file.
